Coalition for Equal Rights

The Coalition for Equal Rights is a front group in the Denver, Colorado area formed to fight the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act, the law that ended smoking in most workplaces and public places in Colorado (including bars and restaurants) as of July 1, 2006.

Zack Ford, listed as the Coalition's Membership Director on the "Contact" page of the coalition's web site, www.stopthebans.com, is a registered professional lobbyist with the state of Colorado whose firm, Ford Sovine & Ford, also represents the Colorado Licensed Beverage Association, a long time Philip Morris ally and member of PM's "Field Action Team," a group of business owners PM mobilizes to fight restrictions on the sale and use of cigarettes. www.stopthebans.com gives the reader no hint of its relationship to tobacco companies.

The Coalition for Equal Rights filed a lawsuit to overturn the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act, claiming that by exempting certain establishments (like casinos, cigar bars and the smoking lounges at the Denver International Airport) it violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But in October 2006, U.S. District Court Judge Lewis T. Babcock dismissed the lawsuit, ruing that that "the exemptions are not irrational or unfair, and that it is within the rights of lawmakers to make them, based on the economic impact of banning smoking in those establishments."

Contact Details
Web: http://www.stopthebans.com

NOTE: The "Coalition for Equal Rights" web site was taken down shortly after this article was posted on SourceWatch, but a page linking the Coalition to  tobacco industry ally, the Colorado Licensed Beverage Association, can be seen at the Internet Archive

Other SourceWatch Resources

 * British American Tobacco
 * Ford Sovine & Ford